Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I love just about everything Ruta Sepetys writes. I checked this out from the library before the hubby and I went on a big road trip, and I finished it in three days.
Cover Description
“It’s 1950s, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan to get into an elite college, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in a police investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodly, the brusque madam on Conti Street.”
Characters
Josie is a kindhearted and sharp-witted bookworm willing to do whatever it takes to make more of herself than her callous mother believes she can. She is so relatable as a character, it feels like her string of bad luck could happen to anyone. Her foibles make her human—daydreaming about her imaginary respectable father, predicting which books customers will buy, trying to get herself out of trouble without harming the only people she considers family. Josie is sweet, but she had the grit to get through the challenges life throws at her, and she’s not afraid to pull out her pistol when needed. The other characters are as quirky as one can imagine in a tale set in a city that is itself a character.
Plot
The plot is a steady cascade of minor mistakes and bad luck that make you ache for poor Josie. In my head, I kept thinking, “Don’t do that!” but I understood why she made the choices she did. The intrigue builds at a solid pace, and Josie gets herself increasingly tangled in it. The story itself is very approachable. It depicts a brothel without being grossly erotic, a murder without being gory, a romance without being schmaltzy, and a class war without being stereotypical. The ending ties the loose ends without feeling forced. A great read from start to finish.
Writing Style
Ruta Sepetys writes with the perfect balance of beauty and clarity. Her prose is precise, and her descriptions delve deep into the narrator’s mindset. Characters leap off the page until you can pick which actors would play them in the movie.
Conclusion
Filled with intrigue and set in remarkable 1950s New Orleans, Out of Easy is a quick read with just the right pacing and dynamic characters that tear through the pages. A plucky bookworm struggling to overcome her mother’s legacy finds herself tangled with prostitutes, murderers, and the snobby elites whose approval she desperately craves. A great escape from the daily humdrum. I highly recommend.
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C.C. The Word Nerd 